Vicinity puts $250m of major shopping centres on the sales block

Vicinity Is focused on plays like revamping Sydney’s Chatswood Chase.

The listed Vicinity Centres is looking to capitalise on the strong market for subregional shopping centres, putting a trio of the complexes on the block with expectations of reaping about $250m.

The offer, via real estate agency CBRE, comes as the competition for mid-sized centres anchored by supermarkets heats up as investors chase the steady returns from these assets.

Under chief executive Peter Huddle, Vicinity has been selling off smaller malls which are harder to keep a handle on and it is focused on transforming larger properties into both luxury and mix-use destinations.

The company has been focused on expanding its luxury retail offerings, both at its Chadstone fortress mall in Melbourne and in the new under-construction areas of Chatswood Chase on Sydney’s North Shore.

The three malls are likely to be snapped up by the new breed of nimble fund managers chasing retail property assets, with larger fund managers such as Charter Hall also expected to feature as it expands in the sector.

The three subregional centres are split between two in Queensland and one in NSW, although the company and agency declined to comment.

Vicinity Centres chief executive Peter Huddle. Picture: John Feder

In Queensland, Gympie Central, a single-level subregional shopping centre in Gympie, about 80km northwest of Maroochydore on the Sunshine Coast is on offer. Anchored by Big W and Woolworths, it includes more than 40 specialty stores.

The complex has a gross lettable area of 14,160sq m and 748 car spaces. It has a moving annual turnover of $160.6m.

It is also selling Whitsunday Plaza, a single-level subregional shopping centre in central Queensland, about 6km southwest of Airlie Beach. It is anchored by Big W, Harvey Norman and Woolworths and includes more than 20 specialty stores. That 22,349sq m centre has 1148 car spaces and a moving annual turnover of $166.8m.

In NSW, it is offering Armidale Central, a two-level subregional shopping centre in the regional area of New England.

It is anchored by Kmart and Woolworths, and includes more than 25 specialty stores. Armidale Central is New England’s premier shopping destination. The centre spans a gross lettable area of 14,564 sq m and the complex has 610 car spaces and the moving annual turnover is $120.9m.